The actors, who spoke with PUNCH Online at the Babcock University Teaching Hospital, Ilishan, said the actor fell on the ground and started bleeding immediately after he was hit.
According to them, he was initially rushed to the General Hospital in Iperu, but the officials on duty rejected him because there was no police report.
In an exclusive interview with PUNCH Online, Abiodun Adebanjo, explained that Ijaduade, who directed a film he produced, was at Living Spring Hotel to rest when the incident happened.
Adebanjo said, “We were filming at Iperu, around Living Spring, and yesterday happened to be our last day on set. After we wrapped up everything, I took him to his hotel to rest. As I returned to my hotel, I was told that Azeez had been shot. I couldn’t believe it.
“So I rushed back to that hotel. I didn’t meet them, they said he was rushed to the General Hospital in Iperu. At that General Hospital, they said they couldn’t treat a gunshot injury without a police report. All of us started crying. So, we rushed him to Babcock University Teaching Hospital, and he was admitted.
“The policeman who shot him ran away but we held his colleagues responsible. Later we were told that the officer had been arrested.
“What the doctors told us when we got here was that there was no bullet in his neck from the result of the scan. We were told that the bullet entered through one side of the neck and went out through the other. We thank God he is stable now. The doctors only asked us to give them 72 hours.”
Another actor, Femi Adekanye, recounted that he heard the sound of gunshot and rushed down from his room, only to find Ijaduade’s phone on the floor, while he was being rushed to the hospital.
Adekanye said two officers were accosted, adding that the one that pulled the trigger absconded.
“We took him to the General Hospital, he was rejected and he was taken to Babcock. Thank God he is responding to treatment,” he said.
Popular Nollywood actor, Odunlade Adekola, who was at the hospital to see the movie director, appreciated God for saving him from what could have taken his life.
“We just have to give thanks to God that he is alive. It is a great opportunity to give thanks to God in our industry. Anybody dead is gone,” Adekola said briefly.
The Governor, Theatre Arts and Motion Pictures Practitioners of Nigeria, Owolabi Ajasa, who was also at the teaching hospital, stated that he was not there when the incident happened, but the victim gave him a brief when he met him on the hospital bed.
Ajasa narrated, “He said he had no issue with the police. He was sitting just after production when he observed that something happened to him. He said he felt a gun bullet enter his neck, and from there they rushed him to the general hospital, where he was rejected before he was finally brought to Babcock.”
Ajasa thanked God that Ijaduade was recuperating fast, urging policemen to avoid firing shots indiscriminately.
Meanwhile, the Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Alamutu, who visited the hospital for an assessment of the incident, said the actor was hit by bullet shells.
He condemned the actions of the police officer who fired the shot, saying he was undergoing disciplinary actions at the moment.
